1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of storage devices, and more specifically, to a gun rack.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a number of gun racks that are the subject of issued patents or pending patent applications, but none of these gun racks includes the novel features of the present invention, most notably, the alternating vertical placement of the guns butt to barrel, the swivel shoes for holding the gun butts, and vertically adjustable barrel receivers. Several examples of the prior art are discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 405,335 (Amerine, 1889) discloses a gun rack and glass case, in which the guns are positioned around the outside of the glass case. The gun butts are held in place by a series of notches in the lower support member.
U.S. Pat. No. 492,304 (Markle, 1893) provides a gun case in which the butts of the guns are held by grooves in the lower disks of the rack. Two lower disks are included to accommodate guns of different lengths.
U.S. Pat. No. 505,320 (Meadows, 1893) describes a rack for firearms in which the butts of the guns are held in place by recesses in the bottom platform. This rack can also be adapted to hold pistols by piercing the upper platform with holes for receiving the barrels of the pistols.
U.S. Pat. No. 712,428 (Whitcomb, 1902) covers a gun rack in which the gun butts are suspended in the air underneath the lower disc. Each gun is held in place by an opening in the lower disc designed to hold the breech-block, an opening in the lower disc designed to hold the stock and lock, and a keyhole-slot in the upper disc designed to hold the muzzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,257,107 (Patterson, 1918) discloses a gun rack in which the gun butts are held in place by openings in the bottom receiver disc. The guns are prevented from falling to the floor by a series of brackets or “stirrups” that lie underneath the openings in the bottom receiver disc.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,757,600 (Sprowle, 1929) provides a gun rack with three horizontal discs. The butts of the guns rest on the floor, and the guns are leaned back into recesses or notches on the upper and lower disks. The middle disc serves as a mechanism for locking the guns in position on the rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,512,622 (Fish, 1950) describes a waterproof container for storing firearms over a protracted period of time. Inside the container is a horizontal, circular gun rack requiring the alternate placement of guns butt to barrel. Each gun butt rests on top of a knob that protrudes from the inside of one of the two drums on either side of the container, and the gun barrels fit into sockets on the two drums.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,869,729 (Hayden, 1954) and 2,869,729 (Hayden, 1959) cover a gun rack that is secured to the ground by a ground-engaging shaft and a plurality of ground-engaging tines that extend from the bottom of the base plate or disc. On top of the disc are radial arms that extend outward from the center of the rack and that are connected to gun butt receivers on their outward ends. The gun butt receivers are fixed, non-pivoting platforms that extend upward from the radial arms.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,661 (Kimmel, 1972) discloses a revolving gun cabinet that comprises an upper and a lower disc, with no accommodation for the gun butts on the lower disc other than a lip around the perimeter of the lower disc.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,789 (Robertson, 1973) provides a gun cabinet comprising a protective shell that is anchored to the floor. Inside the shell is a rack with a bottom plate, on which are formed U-shaped compartments for containment of the gun butts. This rack does not appear to include any particular accommodation for the gun barrels.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,923 (Kimmel, 1975) describes a cabinet-enclosed, power-rotated gun rack. In this rack, the gun butts fit into recesses in the bottom rotor. The recesses generally conform in their outline shape to that of the average gun butt. Inside each recess is a convexly curved butt-supporting piece. The outwardly convex shape of this piece is generally complementary to the concave shape of the shoulder-engaging end of the average gun butt.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,808 (Oakley et al., 1978) covers not only a gun rack but also a steel security cabinet in which the rack is placed. The gun butts are supported by recesses in a circular gun butt support located at the bottom of the rack.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,868,975 (Sells et al., 2005) and U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2004/0045914 (Sells et al.) disclose a revolving gun safety cabinet in which the lower horizontal disc of the gun rack is adapted to hold the gun butts, and the upper horizontal disc holds the gun barrels. A vertical post joins the upper and lower horizontal discs, and a plurality of bolts extend outward from the vertical post at a location in between the upper and lower horizontal discs. The guns are locked in place by a locking means at the distal end of each bolt.
U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2004/0164036 (Cummins) provides a gun storage carousel in which the gun butts are held by slots in the base, and a top cabinet is secured to the upper end of the main post.
There are also a number of design patents that cover specific designs for gun racks. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. D348,576 (Narramore, 1994) shows a gun cabinet design in which a rotating gun rack is enclosed in a cabinet with glass doors. The rotating gun rack has recesses on the bottom plate for receiving the gun butts. There is no provision for inverted (barrel-down) guns.
U.S. Pat. No. D379,881 (Gregg, III et al., 1997) shows a locking gun rack with three horizontal discs and a top attachment shaped like a lampshade that appears to be designed to hold pistols. This rack is designed for barrel-up guns only.
U.S. Pat. No. D408,174 (Aspenwall, 1999) shows a rifle display cabinet containing a gun rack. The bottom disc of the gun rack has angled recesses for holding the gun butts. This rack does not accommodate inverted (barrel-down) guns.
The following patents relate to racks for elongate objects, but they are not specifically designed for holding guns. U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,685 (Brace, 1987) describes a rack assembly for elongated objects such as skis and ski poles. The assembly comprises a base portion, a vertical post, and two horizontal sprocket members. The rack does not rotate, and there are no accommodations for gun stocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,261 (Baughman et al., 1997) covers a rotating fishing rod and pool cue holder. The holder comprises a foundation plate, a turntable assembly, and a base plate. The base plate has a number of recesses for supporting the bottoms of the stored items. The holder further comprises a top plate, which has the same number of recesses as the base plate. The top ends of rods or cues are locked into place by a recess closure lock on the top plate.